handmade by stefanie

I didn't do as much gift knitting as I have in years past, but I did try something new: giving a skein of yarn as a gift and letting the recipient decide what it becomes. My parents are huge Royals fans, so when I found some colorways celebrating the Royals' World Series title, I knew I had to get it for them. Since it was from a small hand-dyer who dyes everything to order, the yarn wouldn't arrive until the middle of December - too late for me to knit anything as a gift. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it inspired me to try a different approach, instead of engaging in some stressful deadline knitting. Plus, they got to pick the exact pattern they wanted! Royals-inspired colorways from Nerd Girl Yarns. My Dad chose a ribbed hat pattern , which I have already started in the Blue OKCtober colorway: My mom chose a pretty cowl design which I will get on the needles soon, but for now I need to focus on this stranded colorwork cowl - this ...

Nearly all of my holiday gift projects were for the little people in my life, although I have already shared most of them here on this blog ( socks  for my nephew Rhys, this  cute top  for my cousin's oldest daughter Dany, and a  sweater  and frog hat for my newest nephew, James). However, there are a few projects which I haven't yet blogged about, for fear that the surprise would be given away so close to the holiday. Now that most of my holiday projects have been gifted, I can share them with you! My cousin is expecting in early 2016, and she and her husband are HUGE Royals fans (as our entire family is!). Naturally  I had to knit a  baby sweater in Royals colors ! I was pretty psyched when I found the most perfect buttons ever from Wildflower Button Studio : Upon learning that my nephew Ethan is obsessed with the color red, I quickly cast on for this cute garter stitch hat (available for free here on the Purl Soho blog ) in an eyeba...

For those celebrating today, happy holidays! Here's a spoiler for the holiday cards which were sent out late, late LATE this year. Oops!

Today is kindasortnotreally Festivus *, and to celebrate, I can finally share a project I've been working on for Tyler in secret, which is currently at HO status: Last night, we did our gift exchange and he was the proud recipient of one Christmas Barf-colored sock . WOO HOO! Now I am furiously knitting its mate in hopes that he can wear these socks on Christmas day. The pattern is one of my favorites for gift knitting, Lateral by Cookie A. I'm planning to start several new projects over the break, but for now the only other one I am working on the  Xanadu Snowflake Cowl , though I am not very far along and as you can see above, it really just looks like a mess of tiny, tiny stitches and yarn ends. Here's hoping a 14 hour train ride round trip will yield a more interesting WIP photo between now and next week! *if you are a nerd like me, you've watched the Seinfeld extras and know that the real holiday has no set date, which makes it all the more ominous!

Each year, I try to make a few projects to add to our holiday decor. Christmas is my husband's favorite holiday, and now that we have a big enough apartment, we have a full-size tree, stockings, and an ever-growing collection of holiday decor. This year, I picked four projects to make, but have so far only completed two(ish). The first was a really quick crocheted holiday lights garland using this free pattern from Repeat Crafter Me . It's strung along the bookshelf containing my knitting library, which is opposite the other built-in bookshelf where we've hung our stockings. After spotting this granny square tree tutorial on pinterest, I thought I could make my own version to hang on our door, using buttons as the ornaments. My idea worked out pretty well, I think! I was hoping to make all 4 snowball buddies for our tree, but the first three I ended up gifting, and sine then I have only made this cute bunny ornament (hence the ish  above): The final project I wa...

On Wednesday night, I put the finishing touches on this adorable crocheted fox hat ! I used a pattern from Knit Simple , and a new(ish) yarn from Knit Picks called Mighty Stitch , which turned out to be a pretty good choice for crochet. There were a TON of ends to weave in on this project, but I think it was worth it, since the end result is totally cute. Late last night, I finished the Suitable for Use hat from Hunter Hammersen's new book ( click here for my review ) in some yarn I can't tell you about yet. I know, I know...what a tease! But that hat is blocking and I think it'll be a lovely gift for someone in my family. I'll have to get a better shot of it in natural light since the deep forest green is hard to pick up indoors. Have a crafty weekend!

I basically have the same ol WIPs as last week: fox hat, green hat, snowball buddies. Not too exciting, amiright?!  Instead, today I'll be showcasing some of the exciting yarns that have recently showed up on my doorstep. First, two skeins of Xanadu cashmere yarn arrived, and I plan on knitting the Snowflake Cowl pattern by Julie of the Knitted Bliss blog. Hooray for colorwork! Then, a HUGE box of yarns from Ancient Arts Yarn arrived - too many bases to list here! There are skeins to match each of my cats from their Meow Collection ; a squishy skein of the new bulky weight yarn, Big Squeeze ; and even a sample skein of a soon-to-be-out yarn which contains recycled fibers. It's quite the motivation to finish my holiday gift knitting and crochet projects. I also neglected to share this amazing project kit here, though I feel a little bad doing so at this late date - it's completely sold out! I was fortunate to snag a limited-edition Odyssey Cowl Kit from Bijou ...

First up, thanks to everyone who entered this month's giveaway and all of our wonderful sponsors -  Gleener, Love + Leche, Allure Fiber Wash, and Knitter's Pride!  The Random Number Generator has selected our lucky winners:  Prize Pack 1 -  Gleener Dapper Dog Tote, Knitter's Pride Nova Platina fixed circular needles, and Love + Leche lemongrass mini lotion bar. Congratulations SaturnLu1! Prize Pack 2 -  Gleener Rockin' Owl Tote, Knitter's Pride Nova Platina fixed circular needles, and Love + Leche cedarwood mini lotion bar. Congratulations Laura M! Prize Pack 3 -  Gleener Ultimate Fuzz Remover in Punch Buggy Pink and Unscented Allure Fiber Wash. Congratulations  @nanoadri! Prize Pack 4 -  Gleener On the Go Travel Fuzz Remover and Woodland Mist Allure Fiber Wash. Congratulations spiralstrings108! I'll get in touch with you to arrange for the delivery of your prizes!  In other news, yesterday was the last day for...

After admiring this pattern on Ravelry/Pinterest/etc for many years, I finally purchased it to make some to give as gifts this year. I whipped up this cute trio of Snowball Buddies in about a week and gave them to folks at my salon, who loved them! This is a really great project for leftover bits of yarn. I plan on several more with my worsted weight odds and ends this holiday season! You can purchase the Snowball Buddies pattern here on Ravelry.

The good news is that I finished a lot of projects over the weekend. The bad news is that I didn't start any new ones in their place, and instead just plodded along on any WIPs that remain. So this is going to be a very, very  short post! I'm about halfway done with the sleeves for my Broad Shoulders cardigan . Will I be finished in time for the KAL's end date of next Monday?! Place your bets now! There's no change in the granny square situation , and though I have been working on my Hunter Hammersen hat (say that five times fast), you really can't tell...so there's no use in boring you with a photo. The only project which has truly made a stunning transformation is the crocheted fox hat , which is a few more pieces (and a nightmare of ends to weave in) away from being done. That's it for this week. If you are looking for a little more excitement, I recommend checking out my Monday blog post, which has 4 really great prizes up for grabs! These 4 ...

Giftmas is almost here! This year, my gift guide does double duty, as many of the products can reasonably be gifted to someone outside of the fiber arts world - but don't worry, there are still some great ideas specifically for the knitter or spinner in your life...or maybe you!Make sure your wish list has plenty of options for last-minute shopping with my top picks...and be sure to check out my awesome giveaway for you chance to win some fun goodies as my gift to YOU this holiday season! Allure Sampler Pack Every fiber artist needs a good wool wash, but so do regular folks! A no-rinse wool wash such as Allure saves time, water, and also money, because it allows you to wash tons of items that you would otherwise pay to dry clean. Allure is specially formulated to leave absolutely no residue behind, so those fancy fibers such as silk, cashmere, yak, qiviut, and alpaca benefit especially. The sampler pack allows you to try all 3 scents for less than $15, which is a pretty sweet...

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, I finished my Miya Shawl for the KAL that recently ended in the Bijou Basin Ranch Ravelry group ! This is a great one-skein pattern for their luxurious new 100% cashmere yarn, Xanadu . I'd never worked with a cashmere yarn before (I'd only used blends previously), and this was nothing short of delightful. I blocked it out over the weekend using my Knit Blockers and some T-pins for the lace border (show here on Instagram ). I've been wearing it as a scarf this week (footage not found), but I was unable to snap a modeled shot due to all sorts of life craziness, but I can tell you that it's very lightweight, yet incredibly warm. This will be a great scarf to wear around my drafty office this winter. What's crazy is how I took both of these photos on the same day outside, but depending on how the light hits the yarn, it looks one way or the other! Honestly, I'd say the true color on any given day is very close to one of th...

EEP! It's December! I have absolutely no idea where November - or the rest of this year, for that matter - went. I'm still kind of in denial that it's Decemeber, but I really can't ignore it for now since it's crunch time: I have two weeks to finish my Broad Shoulders sweater, plus I have to do all that holiday gift knitting I've been procrastinating. Luckily, the list of outstanding holiday projects isn't as long as it usually is this time of year, but I am still beginning to panic a bit as the countdown races on....and I am totally ok with indulging a raging bout of startitis, apparently. To wit: over the weekend, I started knitting some adorable Snowball Buddies by Susan Claudino: I also cast on for a pair of fingerless mitts using the free Maize pattern from Tin Can Knits and some of my handspun yarn from Spinzilla: After seeing this granny square Christmas tree idea on Pinterest , I decided to make my own version to hang on our door using som...